Six months after a devastating plague spreads across the globe, five adults must fight against all odds to find a cure, and to simply hold onto eachother as they fight zombies, raiders, and even eachother occasionally. The Apocalypse Chronicles is the first major novel written by W. Shepard, the author of this title. Please leave reviews so I can know how I'm doing. Thanks, Enjoy

The golden wheat fell under their shoes as they ran through the field. Rebekah glanced back over her shoulder and tried to count how many were pursuing them. She reached five, before she turned around and forced her legs to run faster, the wheat struck her face like fingers of evil hands reaching out to try and catch her. Their two forms burst through the field at a sprinting speed. They had come out of the field next to the grocery store, in the middle of the street. Connor swore under his breath as they attracted several more Infected that joined the others.

Connor and Rebekah turned around to face the opposite direction, which lead to Leslie's house. His muscles tensed as he shot off, moving at a dead sprint towards the distant sanctuary. Rebekah looked back and saw Leslie waving from the roof of the old pharmacy. She jerked her arm free of Connor's grasp, making him turn around in surprise.

"We have to get out of here! They could be on top of us any second now," He pleaded with her to keep moving, but she wouldn't budge until Leslie was with them. They had, luckily, lost the main attention of the Infected. Their arguing could have been heard miles away, adding to the miracle of how they stayed unnoticed by everything around them.

Connor's face threatened to turn red with anger as he tried to yell his answer into his small girlfriend's head. She, on the other hand, wasn't budging for anything less than Leslie. Connor heard something in the distance, something familiar to him. He ignored Rebekah's yelling for a minute and concentrated on the mysterious sound.

"And another thing, I'm so sick and tired of you leaving your-" Her sentence trailed off, as she too noticed the strange noise. It reminded her of the crotch rocket that Wyatt used to own.

Suddenly and without warning, three bikes buzzed into the middle of the small street, coming from the road leading to the river. They slammed into the horde, and ran over several Infected on their way. The two riders stepped from the bikes and the third one stayed mounted. They began to rescue Leslie from the building. The larger one, broad shoulders with a leather riding jacket zipped up and a black helmet covering his face, held the Infected off using a Colt 1911 handgun, and kept them away from the smaller framed rider while she helped Leslie down from the fire escape.

"Who the hell," Connor muttered to himself in disbelief. Rebekah sat on the ground, stunned by the three riders.

They then climbed back onto the bikes. Leslie rode on the back of the larger man's bike, and held her arms locked across his chest. The three vehicles roared to life, echoing noise off the quiet buildings that lined that street, and threw gravel into the empty air behind them as they flew away from the horde.

The bikes went speeding past Connor and Rebekah as they made their way towards Leslie's house.

"How do they know where Leslie lives," Connor asked, as they got up and began to run after the mysterious riders.

It was a good twenty minutes before Connor and Rebekah came jogging up to the lawn, out of breath and covered in sweat. The riders were in front of the garage, the larger one leaned on the side of the house, the smaller one paced in a tight circle on the concrete, and the middle sized one sat by his bike.

Connor ran up and pulled his pistol on the large rider, its hammer clicked back, ready to fire. The rider raised his hands in a surrendering gesture. The other two followed his example, their hands shot into the air as well.

"Tell me who you are, or I'll blow your heads off right now. I don't care how many Infected hear," He threatened them in a low voice. Rebekah stood behind him, looking onto the events with a worried expression across her face.

Leslie came walking out of the house with her mom, Stefanie, following closely behind, and they watched the scene unfold with mild horror. Connor shifted the gun from the three regularly.

"I said tell me NOW," He almost screamed the last word. The large rider, who seemed to lead the trio, turned his head to look at Leslie.

"So, is this how you treat all your new guests," The muffled voice from inside the black helmet questioned. Leslie dropped the baseball bat that she was holding, and approached the man.

She calmly, and carefully, took his helmet from his head. The helmet slid off, smooth long blond hair swept over his face, showing two bright blue eyes. There was a moment of silence, and Leslie dropped the helmet. She wrapped her skinny arms around his neck tightly, and a large smile stretched across her face.

Rebekah's mouth hung open in surprise at his appearance "Wyatt," was all she could manage to choke out of her throat. The third rider took his helmet off, revealing a tanned face that was marked with stress lines, and a pair of light brown eyes with a shaven head. Jubal, everyone recognized him. He and Wyatt had become good friends before the infection broke out, and even better friends afterwards.

"Hey Isabella, long time no see," Wyatt said. Rebekah ran over to him and tightly embraced him into a hug. The smaller rider removed her helmet next. Black hair fell from the headwear as soon as it cleared her small head, showing an unblemished face and sparkling green eyes.

"Chloe, he actually brought you back," Leslie yelled, and ran over to her.

Chloe braced herself as Leslie's arms were flung around her in a tight hug. She laughed and returned the hug, smiling at everyone as she talked with Stefanie and Leslie.

Rebekah hugged Wyatt tightly, smelling the leather of his jacket deeply, and taking comfort in the familiar sent of her best friend. She brushed a strand of long blonde hair out of his face, and hugged him again. The air had begun to chill the surrounding area in preparation for the nightfall. Stefanie shooed everyone inside the small fortified house and locked the door behind them.

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